


Corpse Groom

by TheBrothersRowe



Category: Corpse Bride (2005)
Genre: AU, F/M, Twist might be obvious but eh i tried, and corpse bride is still amazing 14 years later, cause halloween, this was a really fun story i wanted to do
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-03
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-11-22 12:58:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20874596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrothersRowe/pseuds/TheBrothersRowe
Summary: Emily Pettler once grew up with Victoria Everglot. The two were the best of friends, but eventually Emily's family moved. The girls only talked through letters now. And just when Emily thought she'd lose her best friend, her parents tell her that their marrying Emily off to a member of their family, Lord Barkis Bittern. Emily is overjoyed, ready to see her best friend again. But her dreams are shattered by stern parents and a rather unattractive Barkis. She messes up her vows horribly, and runs off in an emotional moment. Just when she thought the day couldn't get any worse, she ends up engaged to a corpse groom!(I'm aware it's not as cool as the name Corpse Bride but oh well)





	1. A series of terrible events

There was a gentle humming noise coming from the upstairs window of the mansion, the oldest Pettler daughter staring out the window as she esung to herself, looking out on the village. It was a beautiful day with a light gray sky. Most hated the sight of oncoming snow or rain, but Emily couldn’t help but be thrilled.

The sound of the door opening caught her attention, making the woman look back, seeing her mother. While her mother did love her, she was rather strict when it came to status and presentability. “Oh please dear, don’t make your voice go hoarse with those silly tunes. You need to protect your voice for the vow practice. Heavens knows you’ll shriek like a banshee once you see Victoria again.” Her mother stated, walking over as she double checked her daughter’s appearance.

A soft giggle left Emily, the brunette woman standing up with a bright smile spreading from her ruby covered lips. “I can’t wait to see Victoria again. Heavens, it’s been ages! We were only little girls.” Emily let out a giggle of joy.

Her mother scoffed, but gave her daughter a small smile. “Emily, don’t forget why you’re even going there.” Her mother warned, messing with one of her daughter’s brunette locks.

“I know, you’ve already told me so often mother.” Emily smiled, hearing her father shouting for them outside, “It’s time. I’m actually going to meet him!”.

While most girls would have been unenthusiastic about being put in arranged marriage, Emily was rather thrilled. While most women her age would have set aside those fairy tale fantasies she held onto them dearly. He was probably a handsome man, and they’d live a lavish life and make a beautiful family.

Getting up from the chair beside her bed, Emily hurried out of the room, not before her mother stopped her. “Wait dear!” Her mother called out, making her turn and stop. Her mother walked over, a smile on her face as she picked up a circular box that she had left beside her daughter’s bedroom door. “Here. I want you to have it, heaven knows I can’t fit it anymore ever since I’ve had you and your sisters.” Emily was about to protest, but her mother ignored her, putting the box in her hands. “You can thank me by looking beautiful on your special day. Now, hurry up before your father loses his mind.” Her mother said. Emily had a wide grin, hugging her mother tightly.

Placing the box on her bed for when she would get ready for the wedding, Emily hurried out of her room, and down the stairs where her impatient father was waiting with their butler. Her father was about to make a comment on them taking forever, but Emily rushed into the carriage, already excited to meet her future love and reunite with her best friend. Seeing how happy his daughter was, he couldn’t banter, smiling as he climbed into the carriage, soon followed by his wife.

With the three family members in the carriage and the remaining daughters being watched by the hand maid, the butler began riding to the Everglot home. While her parents talked over wedding ideas, Emily stared out the window, watching as they go closer to the Everglot home. She was so excited. “Do you think he’s handsome? What if he likes fencing? Or singing?” Emily let out a whimsical gasp.

“Emily dear, calm yourself. We’ll be in their presence soon.” Her mother stated, as in fact they had just arrived to the Everglot home. Despite her mother’s warnings, Emily eagerly rushed out of the carriage, adjusting the top of dress and patting down her hair to make sure it wasn’t a massive mess. She wanted to look amazing for Victoria and her future husband. Her parents came up to join her on the steps, pulling down the rope to make the bell ring.

Not long after they knocked, the door swung open, showing Mr. and Mrs. Everglot. “Oh! Hello again, you’ve gotten taller Mrs. Everglot. And Mr. Everglot, is that a new suit?” Emily asked curiously. Her mother pinched the bridge of her nose, while Mrs. Everglot had a look of disdain on her face.

Emily hadn’t noticed, as all her attention had turned to Victoria, who stood a few steps behind her parents. “Victoria! It’s been ages!” Emily squealed in joy, hurrying over and hugging her best friend, “I can’t believe it’s you! You’re so beautiful!”. “Oh, why thank you.” Victoria flushed a little, going to return the hug when suddenly her mother pushed the two of them apart.

“Not so close! Do you know what rumors would go out seeing the two of you so close?” Victoria’s mother hissed out, glaring down at Emily. The women swallowed nervously, her best friend giving her an apologetic look. 

“Right...my apologies. Where may I ask is lord Barkis?” Emily asked, looking around.

The sound of one of the hallway doors opening caught the groups attention, making them look back. “Did I hear someone call my name?” Barkis asked, walking over to the group. All the previous excitement that Emily had on the way here was quickly vanishing. Considering her best friend could barely interact with her due to ‘inappropriateness’ and how...unsatisfying lord Barkis looked.

“Oh, right, I said it. My name is Emily. Emily Pettler. Your future wife.” Emily said, keeping up her smile. Maybe he was a real gentleman, it’s what truly mattered after all, right?

“We don’t have time for this. Pastor Gaswells is waiting for both of you. Come now.” Victoria’s mother stated, heading off with the rest of their parents. Emily was about to follow, when Victoria grabbed her hand.

Emily attempted to protest, not wanting her friend in trouble, but Victoria shushed her. “I gave my old vows to the priest...I knew you loved them. And I loved them too. They’re too beautiful of vows to be wasted. My vows may never come true, but yours still can.” Victoria said, giving her friend a sad smile. Emily returned it, feeling terrible for her best friend. She swore, if she ever found that man, she’d destroy him for breaking her best friend’s heart and not coming to the wedding.

They were beautiful vows, but they really couldn’t be that difficult to do...right?

_ Three hours later… _

“Let’s try that again.” Pastor Galswells groaned. Emily nervously bit her lip, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. This was absolutely humiliating. Victoria and her family watched along with her parents.

She swallowed, her mouth was extremely dry, taking a moment to do her vows. “Right, my apologies. Starting over.” Taking another breath, Emily followed Barkis’ role in vows, and once he was done...it was here turn again. “With...with this candle..” Emily paused for a moment, glancing at Victoria, who frowned. Oh no, this was going terribly wrong.

A startled gasp left her the Galswells smacked his cane on the ground, making her snap back into focus.

“Let’s try this again, show we Mistress Pettler.” The pastor was cleared growing agitated, and judging by the looks from all their parents, he wasn’t the only once. Taking a shaky breath, Emily continued, following the instructions as she took Barkis’ hand, they walked towards the-

“OW!” Barkis exclaimed, retching his hand free from Emily’s. Emily gasped in shock, immediately recognizing that she had just stepped on his toes when they were walking forward. Perish, all of her marriage dreams were already crumbling, and it was only the rehearsal! “Oh my, I’m so sorry, I thought-”

Pastor Galswells hit the ground again, making her flinch back. “Three steps forward! Three!” He scolded, shattering her hopes more and more.

Barkis scowled at Emily for a moment, before shaking his head. “I suggest we just get to the ring part.” And with grace he pulled a simple but beautiful ring from his breast pocket. Victoria had a concerned look on her face, hoping the rest of this would go well. However...something about all of this we just...strange to her.

But of course, just as Barkis was about to put the ring on her hand, Emily let out a strong sneeze, slapping the ring out of his hand on accident. “The ring! She’s not fit for marriage or to be a proper woman!” The pastor screamed as the room filled with panic. “I’ll get it!” Without thinking, Emily hurried forward, rushing to grab the ring. Unfortunately, her mother wanted her to look perfect for the rehearsal, which involved heels that were much too big for her.

A piece of her dress caught on her shoe, and with a scream Emily fell forward, landing hard on Mrs. Everglot. She groaned, a tad dazed from the fall. That wasn’t the worst of it though when she fully gained her sense, gasping in terror realizing what she had just done. Emily pushed herself on the floor, clutching the ring to her chest as she looked around.

“Enough! This wedding cannot until she acts like a proper woman!” The terrifying pastor turned his attention to Emily, his eyes piercing straight through her, “Young lady, learn your vows! Learn how to act like a proper lady!”. 

When Emily looked around for help, she found none. The cold and unforgiving looks that all the parents gave in the room shattered her. But the worst part was seeing Victoria shaking her head, unable to look at her. Struggling not to break down right there in tears, Emily opened the door behind her and ran out of the house, unable to bare it any longer.

The emotional woman ran through the town, crying to herself. She didn’t pay any focus on the few villagers that seemed to care, she just ran and ran.

She ran until the heel of her shoe broke, making her fall face first into the snow. “Urgh!” Emily cried out, pushing herself up, sniffling as tears made her make up roll down her cheeks, “Look at you… Pathetic, improper… Oh, where did the days go when we could just be young girls. Wish for a perfect happy ending.”.

There was a faint chill, and eventually stood up, rubbing her arms. It wasn’t too far in the winter yet, but it was on its way. Normally the snow would bring her joy, but it seemed all the things she loved now were nothing important.

“No! Stop that Emily, stop it right now.” Taking a steady breath, Emily wiped her tears away on her sleeve, “I am a proper woman… I’ll learn my vows and be the perfect wife.”. Kicking off her broken shoes, Emily pulled out the ring that she still had on her. While it wasn’t ideal partaking in the man’s role in marriage, it was the best she had now.

“With this hand, I will lift your sorrows.” Emily trailed down the forest, doing a small twirl. What? Some things could never change! Plus, it wasn’t improper to twirl. 

Heavens, Victoria was right, these vows were beautiful. “Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine.” Emily broke off a twig, holding it like a candle, “With this candle, I will light your way into darkness.”. And for the final step, she held up the ring, “With this ring, I ask you to be mine.”. Improvising, Emily put the ring on a strange looking stick.

It came to her in a second, a large smile on her face once she realized that she had just done her vows without messing up!

She was about to get up, when the wind suddenly picked up., making her shiver more, not noticing how the twig that she put the ring on twitched and moved. The ravens began squawking at her, making her turn around, shocked to see nearly a dozen of them perched on trees...just watching her. While her focus was on the ravens, the unthinkable happened.

A scream left her as the stick that she had put the ring on reached out, grabbing her arm in a strong grip and pulling it down. Emily grunted as she hit her head on the ground. All the ravens started reacting, flying off.

Emily shook her head, pushing herself up, grunting as she tried retching her arm free from the sticks grip, which to her horror, looked like a skeletal arm now. Emily managed to get onto her feet, grunting as she struggled to free her arms from hands vice like grip. With some more pulling, Emily yelled as she fell back, grunting as she hit the ground.

Gasping, she quickly panicked see the skeletal arm still attached to her wrist, even tightening its grip. With a scream, she smacked it off her arm, watching it land on the ground not to far from her,

The horror wasn’t over yet though, as the ground where the arm was began cracking, breaking open as if something was trying to get out. And to her terror, something did. The snow covered ground broke open, a blue hand out stretched and grabbing onto the ground to pull themselves out as their head began to rise. She spotted jet black hair coated in cobwebs, making her heart hammer aggressively in her chest.

Emily was stuck on the floor, only stuck watching as a figure rose out of the ground. From what she was able to see he was a rather tall man, his black hair scattered with cobwebs and bits of snow. He was wearing a long black suit with a white button up underneath it. The terrifying part of him was that his skin was a deep blue, cuts and tears throughout his body. A part of the bone of his leg was visible due to the tear in his pant leg, a portion of his ribs were visible, and there was a rather terrifying dent in his forehead, showing the skull underneath the blue skin.

The corpse stood up, pushing his cobwebbed bangs out of his face. “I do…” He rasped out.

Emily gasped as he began moving towards her, reaching out his remaining arm for her. On instinct, she got up from the ground running away from him. His skeletal arm twitched, flipping itself over as it began to crawl after her. The corpse walked after her in a calm yet fast pace, picking his arm up and reattaching it.

This wasn’t happening! This isn’t happening! Running on adrenaline, Emily hurried away from the corpse that followed after her. Emily ran as fast as her body would move, yelling as she tripped and stumbling down a hill.

Her vision swam for a moment, but when she turned around, she saw he was coming down the small hill after her. She screamed, pushing herself up, not caring that her dress had now being soaked with snow and mud. A startled gasp left her as she approached a small river that had been frozen over, slipping due to her heels. Wide black eyes looked back, seeing him still after her, and much closer. Pushing herself up, Emily managed to get off the ice river.

She ran through the path, pushing past branches as she caught sight of the bridge. So close, only a little farther and she’d be safe! As she ran, a pair of low hanging branches caught onto Emily, stopping her.

“No!” Emily exclaimed, ripping herself free from the branches, resulting in parts of her sleeve being ripped off. Not that she truly cared in this situation.

Once freed from the branches, Emily ran over to the bridge. The ravens from before flew past her, making her duck down. Once all of them were gone, she stood up, looking around. Nothing...there was nothing. Her breathing slowly calmed down, and she let out a sigh of relief. Heavens, Victoria would lose her mind hearing this story. Taking another breath, Emily turned around-

Emily screamed as she turned around, finding him right behind her. He walked toward her, slowly backing her into the wall of the bridge. The woman was frozen stiff as he slowly grabbed her shoulders, the ravens circling around them now. “You may kiss the bride.” Was he referring to himself when he said this? Emily had no time to react, as he leaned towards her, eyes closed as their lips connected.

The world had gone dark, and Emily was awoken by voices...and music? Slowly she blinked, finding four figures standing in front of her, well two were crouched down in front of her. The terrifying corpse from earlier and a skeleton with a pipe and mustache beside him. Behind the two was another skeleton and what appeared to be a woman?

“A new arrival.” The skeleton beside the corpse said.

The corpse leaned forward, looking at her concerned. “She must’ve fainted. Goodness, I got too excited. Are you alright?” He asked, putting a hand on the back of her head, looking at her concerned. Emily shuddered feeling the cold bone fingers touch her skin.

“W-What happened?” Emily asked.

Before he could respond, the skeleton beside him leaned forward, getting a little to close to her face. “By Jove, man. Looks like we’ve got ourselves a breather.” The skeleton man said, only to be pushed away by a zombie woman. “Oh. Does she have a dead brother?” The woman asked. A small skeletal child fashioned in a blue sailor suit came over, poking her in the ribs with a stick, “She’s still soft.”.

Emily whimpered, pushing herself up to her feet, leaning on the bar counter for support. “A toast then!” A short skeleton announced, holding up a beer mug, taking a swig of it. The other soldier skeleton took the sword from the short one’s rib cage, making the green drink pour through his bones and into his own mug. Without an issue, the taller soldier drank the liquid, making Emily shudder. “To the newlyweds.” The short soldier said as the sword was put back in him.

Her eyes widened, processing the word. “Newlyweds…?” She whispered.

“In the woods, you said your vows so perfectly. While it isn’t normally the woman does it, how could I say no with those wonderful words?” He held up a boney hand, making her eyes widen seeing her ring on his finger.

“No...no. This is just a nightmare!” Emily exclaimed, starting to slap herself which shocked him, “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”.

In her fit of hysteria, a new voice filled the air, making her look over. The slim chef woman from before walked over with a head on a platter, putting it down, and letting the head come towards Emily. “Coming through, coming through. My name is Paul, I am the head waiter.” Paul let out a giggle, “I will be creating your wedding feast.”.

Emily whimpered, backing away, gasping as she bumped into the corpse behind her. She turned around, tensing as the corpse’s right eye suddenly popped out, revealing a green maggot. “Wedding feast! Sounds amazing, I’m practically salivating.” the female maggot said. He quickly covered his eye hole, looking rather embarrassed by this interruption. “Maggots, all good for eating not talking I’m afraid.” He said.

No, this wasn’t real! Emily backed away from him, gasping as she bumped into the two soldier skeletons. “Stay away, stay back!” She shouted, looking around, and took the sword out of the skeleton’s chest. Thank goodness for fencing lessons, she knew her way around a blade. “Keep away, I have a sword! I am not afraid to use it, I know how to! I need answers, now!” Emily exclaimed, waving it around to keep the dead away from her. All the music had stopped, and now all eyes, or sockets, were on here now. “I need answers. Where am I at? And what in heaven's name is going on here?” She turned to the corpse, “More importantly, who are you?”.

The corpse huffed a bit, pushing back some of his messy bangs. “I’m Victor, at least I’m sure. And the rest… well, that’s kind of a long story.” Victor, so that was his name.

Before Emily could ask about that, a new voice caught everyone’s attention, “What a story it is. A tragic tale of romance, identity... and a murder most foul.”. “This is gonna be good.” The small skeleton soldier whispered, and Emily shoved the sword back in him with a shudder. “Hit it, boys.” At the skeleton with the long jaw command, the skeletons got ready, music started to play again. Bonejangles walked up behind the three skeletons, rattling on their heads to start the song. The four skeletons began snapping while another began playing the piano.

“Hey! Give me a listen. You corpses of cheer. At least those of you who still got an ear, I’ll tell you, make a skeleton cry. Of our own lovely corpse groom.” Bonejangles sang, and the spotlight turned onto Victor, who surprisingly cowered from it. Despite everything he had done moments before, he seemed shy?

“Die, die, we all pass away. But don’t wear a frown cause it’s really okay. And might try and hide and you might try to pray, but we all end up the remains of the day.” The entire bar had joined in on the song, making Emily back up more. Victor seemed a tad nervous from all the attention, but slipped Emily a loving look.

Bonejangles walked over, pulling Victor up onto the stage for all of them to see. “Well our boy known for his looks all around. When a wedding is set up by his parents. She’s plenty good looking and sweet all around. And poor little buddy fell hard and fast. When his parents said no to him, he couldn’t bare, running into the woods. Sad and alone, he hid in the woods, thinking all night long. No more plans to elope.” Bonejangles sung out, explaining Victor’s story.

“Die, die, we all pass away. But don’t wear a frown cause it’s really okay. And might try and hide and you might try to pray, but we all end up the remains of the day.” Bonejangles got very into the song, making his own noises as the rest sung out ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah’.

Some of the skeletons got more into the song as well, playing a wide variety of instruments. Emily tried sneaking off, when one latched onto arm, spinning her back over.

“All alone, with their parents made, he conjured a plan to make things right. Wearing his best suit still, he thought of ways to fix it. You don’t need much when you’re in love. Except for a few chosen words and good attitude. Then next to the graveyard by the old oak tree. On a dark foggy night a quarter to eight.”

The others were all focusing intensely, “And then?” “There in the shadows, had she found him?” “And then?” “His little heart beat so loud!” “And then?” in the shadowy figures portraying the story, it showed Victor turning around, screaming as a mysterious figure attacked him.

“And then everything went dark.” Bonejangles appeared beside Victor, rapping his knuckles lightly on the exposed fracture skull of Victor’s head, “And when he opened his eyes, he was dead as dust. Head busted as much as his heart. With little to remember, he made a vow, lying under that tree. That he’d wait for his true love to come set him free. Always waiting for her to return to him.”

Victor gave a small smile, holding out a hand to her. Bonejangles stood behind Emily, continuing to sing as he pushed Emily towards Victor. “When out of the blue she’s back, putting the ring on of all things! Who keeps her vow to be forever by his side. And that’s the story of our own corpse groom!” As the spun around, Victor’s arm suddenly popped off, making Emily stumble back.

She let out a small squeak, shaking off the boney arm. Everyone was still focused on the song, letting her see her opportunity to hurry up the stairs and out of the building. Victor turned, seeing Emily hurry up the stairs, swinging the doors open as she hurried out of the bar.


	2. Marital Issues

Victoria stood beside the window, her mind clouded with worrisome thoughts. Emily had been gone for far too long..it made her think of...well, him. It was still impossible to believe. Him running off before the wedding and stealing all the family riches. It just wasn’t like-

“Victoria, come away from the window.” Victoria turned around, walking over to her parents. The thoughts of him always came to her mind, wondering what would have happened if he hadn’t run off during rehearsal that night… maybe he’d be by her side, playing wonderful songs on the piano, and they’d be married…

But that was gone. He had left, so had Emily.

“Emily? Emily! Where did you go?” Victor murmured as he walked through the streets in attempts to find his wife. Emily peaked out from behind the horse statue, hiding again once she saw him.

Victor’s eye popped out, the man groaning as he picked it up, cleaning any dirt off of it. “Must you always do that?” Victor asked. The maggot tsked, looking around, “Your wife is quite a peculiar one. Are you sure she’s the one?”. “I know it. She has to be the one.” Victor stated. “I wouldn’t trust your memory, your brain was messed up before I even got to it.” Maggot said.

Emily saw Victor facing away from her, so she took the chance to start moving. Unfortounately, the maggot spotted her. “There she goes, there she goes! She’s getting away!” Maggot exclaimed. Emily gasping, running off.

Victor popped his eye back in, following after his wife. “Emily?” He called out, walking after her. As he made his way down an alley, the hands for sale pointed down the alley. “Thank you.” Victor said, following their direction.

Emily ran down another alley, gasping as it was filled with coffins. “How would that work? Don’t be stupid, Emily.” She scolded herself, continuing to run, making her way past a corpse man. Victor followed after her, searching for where she went. As he walked by the corpse man looked at him surprised, rubbing his eyes to make sure he was seeing correctly. “Victor?” He asked.

Emily kept running, yelling as a man split in half before her. She was running out places to run! “Oh no, dead end.” Emily whispered. Not far from where she was, she could hear Victor calling out for her. Seeing no choice, she began climbing up the large wall, which was even harder due to heels. Thankfully the wall was brittle, making it easy to make holes to use for support as she finally made it to the top.

Her hand grasped the ledges, pulling herself up to grab the bars, and as she leaned over to grab something, she realized she had grabbed onto Victor’s leg, making her gasp. “It would have been safer and faster to use the stairs.” Victor said, leaning over to pull her up.

“Views gorgeous isn’t it? Practically takes my breath away...well...if I had any.” Victor murmured, walking away from her a bit. Emily took a shaky breath, looking at him. She really didn’t understand him. The corpse that had chased her through the woods and town seemed so awkward when it came to conversations. “The view is quite romantic.” Victor said, taking a seat on a coffin shaped bench. He looked at her, patting the seat beside him.

Reluctanctly, Emily walked over, sitting beside him. “Look, I’m sorry for...everything that’s happened to you. I am. And I would love to help, but I need to get back home.” Emily said.

Victor was about to respond when a bark caught there attention, surprising Emily. The two looked over, seeing a small skeletal dog run over. Emily’s jaw dropped, watching it run over and suddenly hop onto Victor’s lap, excited to be around him. Oddly enough, Emily was..really happy seeing this, it was sweet. “Is tht your dog?” She asked.

Victor paused for a moment, looking at the dog, which was named Scraps judging by the collar, “I don’t know. But every since I’ve come here, he’s always been around me. So maybe he is...well was.”. Emily frowned a bit, feeling bad for him, she couldn’t imagine how awful it must have been to forget so much of who you once were.

“Does he know any tricks?” Emily asked.

A curious noise left Victor, looking at the dog. As if understanding, Scraps hopped off his lap, landing on the ground. “Sit.” To their surprise, the dog sat down, wagging its little bone tail so happily. “Roll over, roll over.” Victor commanded, a smile prominent on his face. Scraps barked, rolling over...which was a tad terrifiying considering his head didn’t move. “Good boy.” Victor smiled.

Scraps let out a happy bark, leaping onto Emily’s lap. While a little freaked out, she couldn’t deny how cute this little puppy was. “Hello there cutie. I bet you were so handsome with fur.” She smiled. Scraps barked, before moving to sit on Victor’s lap again.

Victor’s happy expression slowly turned into a sad one as he pet Scraps. “Mother never approved of him jumping up like this… she hardly approved of anything I did.” Victor said. Emily frowned, knowing her that felt, especially after today. Her mother did love her, but was tired of Emily not acting like a proper lady.

“My mother is the same. Heh..your lucky you would never need to meet her.” Emily paused, an idea slowly coming to her, “You should meet her, meet her and my father. I mean we are married after all. Shouldn’t we get to know our in laws? Yours and mine.”.

The idea intrigued Victor, but he huffed, scratching his head, “I don’t even know if mine are dead or not. I can’t even remember their names.”.

“Well, until you do, you can meet my mother and father. We should go and see them right now, infact.” Emily beamed, getting up from the bench.

“That’s a wonderful idea. Where are they buried at?”

Oh, right… “Um, here’s the thing. They’re not from around here, actually. They’re...you know, living.” She said, trying to find the least offensive way to say it.

“Well, that is a problem.” Victor muttered. Scraps began barking, and Victor crouched down beside him to hear what he was saying better- wait, was he listening to what the dog was saying? “Goodness, no, we couldn’t do that. Well… I suppose when you say it like that.” Victor said, thinking it over.

“What?”

He turned to her, “Elder Gutkecht”.

Dread filled her as they headed up to the highest building in the entire...afterlife village. Scraps led the way with Victor following closely. Emily lagged behind a bit, swallowing nervously.  _ Stay calm, you need this to get home. Just keep it together a little longer _ .

“Scraps.” Victor warned as the dog ran up barking, not wanting them to get in trouble. Scraps stopped barking, waiting for them in the room. “Elder Gutknecht? Are you there?” Victor looked around the library, trying to find any sign of the skeleton. Emily looked around nervously, this place screamed terrifying. “Hello? Is there anyone here?” Victor asked, moving through the maze of books that reached his height. Scraps ran between his legs, helping him search.

Emily walked up beside him, looking around as Victor continued searching for the older skeleton. While Victor was busy, she looked around at the endless rows of books. Some of these she had never heard of. Mother would be upset losing her mind seeing Emily around this many books, but she couldn’t help it! Knowledge was just so fascinating.

She stepped forward, but in the process knocked over a set of books, making Victor look back at her startled. The ravens began to loudly caw, flying off. The lantern near the podium began shaking, and in the shadows they could see a terrifying boney hand reach for it. Scraps began barking when the figure grabbed it, making Emily gasp a bit upon realizing it was just an elderly skeleton. He looked rather harmless which made her feel nice.

Elder Gutknecht began coughing and looked down at the two, putting on his glasses. “Oh, there you are. We’ve been looking for you for a little while now.” Victor explained, looking back to make sure Emily was still there. The brunette woman swallowed a bit, giving him a small wave. “Hello, pleasure to meet you. Your library is quite lovely.” Emily said.

“Oh, my dear. It’s been some time since I’ve heard anyone say that about my library. And who might you be?” He asked.

“She’s my wife, Emily.” Victor gave her a small smile, before looking back up at the elder, “I know this may seem like an odd request, but we need to go up. Upstairs? Where the living are and so on.”

Elder Gutknecht scratched his head, a broken piece of his skull moving as he did. “Land of the living? Dear boy, why would you want to go there when people are dying to get down here.” The elder asked, making his way down. “Please, Elder Gutknecht. This is very important to us.” Victor pleaded, and Emily gave him a tiny smile. “I don’t know. It’s not natural.” Elder Gutknehkt responded, scratching his broken skull again.

Victor frowned, walking up to him. “Please, sir. There has to be something you can do...surely. Please...it might help me remember who I was.” Victor said, his voice wavering lightly.

The elder looked at him, before sighing as he patted Victor’s shoulder. “Let me see what I can do. Now, where did I put that book?” Elder Gutknecht muttered, searching the entire library for the book. “I left it here somewhere.” He said, tossing around books. Scraps yapped as he was nearly hit with a book, and Victor picked him up to comfort him.

After finding the book, Gutknecht returned to his podium with the books and some vials. Setting the bottles down, he began flipping through the pages until he found something, “I have it.”. Victor sighed in relief, patting Scraps’ head before setting him on the floor. 

“A Ukrainian haunting spell. Just the thing for these quick trips.” Elder Gutknecht said. While he was reading over the spell, Victor leaned over to Emily, whispering to her “I’m so glad you thought of this.”. “So am I.” Emily softly responded. She was only a few moments away from being back home with Barkis, surely he’d fix this ordeal!

Now that he had the right spell, Gutknecht got to work on creating it. To their surprise, all of that work was just for him to make himself a drink. “Um, sir, the Ukrainian haunting spell.” Victor remarked, hoping he hadn’t already forgotten it. “Ah, right.” Gutknecht picked up the bird on the podium, grabbing it by the neck. Emily looked away as she heard it squawk loudly, looking back to see an egg pop out of it. 

_ Disgusting _ .

Elder Gutknecht picked up the egg, looking at them, “Here we have it. Ready? Just remember, when you want to come back, say ‘Hopscotch’.”. “Hopscotch?” Victor questioned. “That’s it.” The elder cracked the egg, and opened it, letting a gold cloud float down and consume them.

And it had worked! Emily had to blink a few times to register that all of this was real, looking around and finding herself in the same place where this whole situation began. Victor gasped beside her, walking forward, “After you spend so long in darkness...you forget how beautiful the moonlight is.”.

A blue butterfly flew past them, and he followed it instantly, looking at it with such fascination. “Butterflies are quite beautiful.” Emily commented, seeing his reaction to it. Victor was silent, holding up his skeletal arm. A smile grew on his face the butterfly landed on it, letting a sigh of ease.

While he was fascinated by the butterfly, Emily began thinking of a plan. The butterfly flew off Victor’s hand, and when he attempted to follow it, his leg snapped off as he tripped over a rock. Victor groaned, looking back as the maggot popped out of his skull fracture, “You dropped something dear.”. He groaned, pushing the maggot back in, before moving over to reattach his leg before Emily looked over.

The leg reconnected with a pop noise, he played it off as nothing happened, smiling at her. Emily thought for a moment, before turning to him. “Victor, wait here.” She took his hand, sitting him on a fallen tree, “I think it’d be best if I were to prepare Mother and Father with the big news. So, I’ll go ahead while you wait here. I swear I will not be long.”. “That would make the most sense. I’ll wait here for you then dear.” Victor said.

Emily nodded, walking away from him, and when she was far enough she began running back towards the village.

The Everglot home was a bit of a ways away, but she made it, no thanks to her busted shoes. Maybe she should have returned home to grab a new pair of heels. She ran up to the door, about to knock when she heard voices behind it. “If I ever see that Pettler girl again, I’ll strangle her with my bare hands! We haven’t been this embarrassed since that Van Dort boy didn’t show up for the wedding.” Mr. Everglot exclaimed. “Your hands are too fat, and her neck are far too thin.” Mrs. Everglot replied, locking the door, “You’ll have to use rope.”.

The two walked away, and Emily put a protective hand over her neck whimpering. Oh dear, was everything suddenly going wrong now? Not wanting to be caught, Emily backed away, before looking around for the room where Barkis was staying at.

Victor let out a loud sigh, resting his head on his hand. It had felt like so long...maybe it was just taking longer to explain to her parents. “Sweetheart, I have a bad feeling about that girl. I don’t think she’s the one-” “Those were the vows I remember...well for the most part. It has to be her, the woman I was going to marry.” Victor deflected, refusing to believe Emily had ill intentions. He tilted his head, hitting it until the maggot shot out of his ear, landing in the snow.

“Oh, go chew someone else’s ear out for once. Emily said she’s going to get her parents, so that’s where she is.” Victor stated. “Well, if you’re so sure go ask her, she couldn’t have gotten that far with busted heels.” Maggot stated, making Victor look at the odd footprints in the snow.

Emily walked around the side of the Everglot house, looking up at the window that led to Barkis’ room. “I’m so close.” She whispered, “Now how am I supposed to get up?”. Looking around a bit, she noticed large vines running up the collum. Oh, perfect.

While it wasn’t entirely uncomfortable, it wasn’t a pleasant climb either. Barkis entered the room, locking it behind him with a huff. “Imbeciles.” He muttered, shaking his head. He could have easily followed after her like he did with that boy months ago, but his eyes were on a far better catch.

Victoria Everglot-

Emily managed to get over the railing of the balcony, sighing in relief as she saw Barkis inside. She had made it! Dusting off her dress, Emily walked over to the door, knocking on the glass. Barkis tensed hearing a knock, turning around, his eyes widened upon seeing Emily at the door. “How?” He rasped out, before approaching the door and opening it. 

The moment the door opened, Emily hurried in, hugging him much to the mans disdain. “Oh Barkis, thank heavens it’s you! I’ve been through so much in the last hours!” Emily exclaimed, letting go. Barkis sneered a bit, looking her over, “I can see that. You seem as cold as death. Where have you been?”. Emily faltered a bit hearing the annoyance in his voice, rubbing her arms a bit for extra warmth.

Taking a moment to calm down, Emily sat down on one of the chairs and Barkis sat across from her. “Barkis, there is something I must confess. This morning I was absolutely thrilled about being married… like my childhood dreams coming true, but now…” 

Emily looked up at Barkis, letting out a horrified gasp as she spotted a recognizable figure climbing up onto the balcony. The two stood, flinching as the doors opened, letting a cold wind blow in. Victor stepped in, pushing his messy bangs out of his face, blasted cobwebs always had them cover his eyes.

“Apologies darling, I just wanted to meet-” Victor gasped, seeing Barkis. The man’s jaw dropped, looking at the corpse. “Emily...who is this?” Victor asked, pulling her close. Barkis was stunned, only able to say one word, “H-How?”. Victor held Emily a bit closer, holding out his hand, “I’m her husband.”.

Emily began panicking, quickly grabbing Victor’s skeletal arm, “I can explain, you don’t understand! He’s dead! Look!”. Victor let out an appalled gasp, getting his arm free. An unnatural look of anger formed on his face, thunder being heard as her uttered “Hopscotch”. Emily yelled as he grabbed her wrist, pulling her away from Barkis. He clung onto her, while Emily out stretched her hand to the frozen Barkis, “No! No! Help!”. He did nothing, and she was dragged away by Victor, ravens loudly screeching as they flew around them.

The crows flew off, revealing they were back in Gutknecht’s library. An enraged Victor stood in front of her, throwing his arms in the air. “You lied to me!” He shouted, “Just so you could get back to that other man!”. Who’s chin was disgustingly massive!

“Victor, why can’t you understand? You’re the other man!” Emily exclaimed, trying to get it through to him. “You’re married to me though! You were already doing it when you redid our vows. He’s the other man.” Victor said, struggling to not get worked up.

“He’s got a point.” The elder remarked.

She could hear him sniffling a bit, his body shaking as he struggled to hold it in. “And here...here I thought things were going so well.” He whimpered, his eye popping out from the emotional stress.

Emily bit her lip, leaning down to pick the eye up. “Victor, please, I’m sorry, I am. But...it can’t work between us. I mean...your dead.”. Victor frowned at the mention, taking his eye back and popping it back in, “Well...you should have thought of that before you asked me to marry you again.”.

“Why can’t you understand? I’m not the woman who wanted to marry you. It was all a mistake. I could never marry you.” The two were shocked by the words that just left her, and a pang of guilt hit Emily as she realized that she said such a hurtful thing.

When she expected him to say something, he just sighed. Victor turned towards the stairs, softly whistling for Scraps to follow him. The dog whined, but followed him down the stairs.

Victor made his way down the alley, approaching one of the caskets in the alley, sitting on it. He sighed aloud, putting his head in his hands, scowling at the sight of roses in the alley. “Hmph, roses for eternal love. Lilies for sweetness. All of it, hogwash.” He put his face in his hands.

A small nudge hit him, and he looked over to see Scraps, the sweet dog whine, nuzzling up to Victor’s face. “Thanks boy...what I would do if I didn’t have you.” Victor murmured, scratching Scraps’ head.

Spider came down from her web, looking at him the sad groom, “What’s got you so blue dear?”. “Goodness...maybe it is me. Maybe we are so different.” Victor sighed. “Maybe she’s the one with a busted head.” Maggot said. Victor scoffed, taking Maggot out of his ear.

“Dear, you got something all those men don’t have. Like...like… you’re great at piano and drawing.” Spider said, only getting an eye roll as a response.

Spider and Maggot looked at each other, trying to think of a way to cheer him up. “What does that old sack of bones have that you don’t double?” Maggot sang. “He can’t even hold a candle to the beauty of your music.” Spider sang. 

Victor scoffed, putting Maggot on the coffin, “How about a pulse?”

“Overvalued.” The two sang, “If she only knew the you that we know.”

Victor huffed, “The bumbling fool who can’t speak without stuttering.”.

“So what? That grizzle of a man isn’t even wearing a ring.” Spider sung, gesturing to the ring on Victor’s finger. “He can’t play piano, sing, or draw. No, he doesn’t compare. Who cares if he breathes air? Overrated. If she only could see how special you can be. If she only knew the you we know.”

Their attempts to comfort him failed. Victor stood, letting out a soft sigh, “If I were to touch a burning candle I can feel no pain. If you cut me with a knife, it's still the same. And I know him heart is beating...and I know I am dead compared to him. Yet the pain here that I feel...try and tell me it’s not real. Being abandoned by love twice now… it seems that I still have tears to shed.”.

Victor slid against the door, sitting on the ground. “The sole redeeming feature of that strange creature is that he’s alive. Overrated. Overblown. Everyone knows that’s just a temporary state. Which is cured very quickly when we meet our fate.” They sang. Victor looked up, seeing Scraps walking over to him. The two kept singing, and eventually Victor grabbed Maggot’s tail, pulling and releasing, making them shoot up the web. Not letting them have the chance to keep it up, Victor got up from the ground, leaving with Scraps right behind him.

“If I were to touch a burning candle I can feel no pain. In the ice or in the sun...it’s all the same. Yet my heart aches… though it doesn’t beat, it’s broken once again. And the pain here that I feel...try and tell me it’s not real. Being abandoned by love twice now… I know that I am dead… yet it seems that I still have some tears to shed.” The Spider and Maggot sighed, watching the corpse walk down the alley, eventually vanishing from their sight.


	3. Wedding Days

Things in the land of the living weren’t going well either. Considering the Pettler and Everglot’s deal was now broken, that being they give money for marrying Emily to Barkis who was related to the Everglot family, that they’d get a higher status. But with Emily gone, the deal was off, and the Everglots were still desperate for money. So in a quick change of plans, it was Victoria who was to be married to Barkis.

Emily was wandering through the town when she spotted Scraps at the entrance to the bar. She sighed, knowing exactly what he was here for. “Lead me back to your master Scraps, I need to apologize for so many things.” Emily said. While most of what she said, she meant, it was still awful to say some of them.

The bar was completely empty, and as she went down the stairs, she heard a piano being played. It was not like anything she had ever heard before. Goodness, it was beautiful… 

She made her way to the bottom of the stairs, finding a familiar figure down there, playing. Taking a moment to compose herself, Emily walked over to him. “I...think you left him.” Emily said, looking down at Scraps. Victor ignored her, and she sighed. There was no point… she turned, ready to walk away, but stopped.

“I….I’m sorry, Victor. I lied to you about wanting to see my parents. It’s just that...this entire day had...well been rather chaotic.” She sighed, sitting beside him on piano bench. She glanced over, seeing he wasn’t responding to what she was saying, just playing still. As he played an idea came to her.

While he played still, Emily put her left hand up, starting to play as well. Victor stopped, giving an annoyed look as she looked at him. Emily frowned, stopping when she suddenly heard the piano keys. His expression softened a bit, playing some more notes. A smile grew on Emily’s face, starting to play with both her hands now. Victor did the same, both taking turns playing notes. It went from them taking turns to eventually both of them playing together. Emily was good at the piano yes, but Victor’s fingers moved with such grace and elegance that she was certain he was a piano player before he died.

The two smiled at each other, anger completely gone from Victor’s face as they played. He gasped as his left hand snapped off, leaving him mortified as it kept playing and eventually made its way up Emily’s arms. “Good lord, that’s embarrassing.” Victor muttered. Emily snickered, taking the hand, reattaching it, “I love the enthusiasm.”. Despite her previous issues with him, it was really nice to see him happy.

Victor smiled, before looking back to see the bar was filling up with a bunch of people. “Hmm. Well, we best move so the band can play.” Victor stood up, holding out his hand, “Coming?”. She smiled, taking his hand and stood up.

The two of them walked into the bar, making their way over to Paul. “Thirsty?” Victor asked. “Um, no thanks. I’m allergic to poison.” Emily said, getting a chuckle out of Victor. Victor was about to order a drink, when someone grabbed his hand, making him look over surprised, “Can I help you?”.

“Victor, is that really you?” The man asked. Victor looked confused, and Emily stood by him. “May I ask who you are?” Victor asked. “Victor, it’s me, Mayhew. I worked with your parents, the Van Dorts.” Mayhew explained.

Victor’s mouth dropped, putting a hand over the crack on his head, “How...you...what?”. Emily was shocked as he was, looking between the two men. “Victor, do you know him?” Emily asked. Victor was at a loss, shaking his head before running off. “Victor!” Emily shouted, frowning as he hurried off. She sighed, hurrying after him.

Odd, it was as if they completely flipped roles this time. She searched for him and found him on the high stairwell that she climbed up to escape him earlier. “Victor… are you okay?” Emily asked, walking over to him. Victor leaned over the rails, messing with a dead flower in his hands. The way he looked at it reminded her of how reacted to the butterfly.

“I’ve been her for what feels like ages. I had a chance to know who I was...and I ran. He knew me, and I ran.” Victor sighed, turning to her, “Why? Am I afraid of learning who I was? What if I was a terrible person? That’s why someone murdered me. And why can I never let go of this flower?”. He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, starting to pace.

Oh, she never noticed that the wilted flower was always in the breast pocket of his jacket.

Something suddenly grabbed his skeletal hand, surprising him. “Victor, it doesn’t matter who you were. It matters who you are now, and who you are is a talented and kind man. One...one that I would love to live my life with. I mean it, I want to marry you.” Emily said, an idea coming to her, “And if we’re going to get married, we need to do it right.”.

The couple made their way to the center of town, standing on the horse statue, gathering everyone around. “Gather round everyone! Excellent news! We’ve decided to do this thing properly. Grab all that you can. We’re going upstairs.” Emily announced. Normally Victor would be nervous with all this attention on him, but it made his still heart flutter with joy.

The mention of an upstairs got everyone excited, going upstairs to have a wedding!

Everyone was excited, getting straight to work for the wedding. Emily got off with Victor’s help, about to walk off when Spider stopped her. “Hold on, dear. You can’t get married in that.” Spider whistled, and to Emily’s surprise a bunch of spiders lowered down, bringing down a beautiful white dress. It was a bit old, but with some sewing, they’d be able to fix it.

She changed out of her dress, switching into the white one. The spiders lowered themselves down, starting to stitch up any tears in it. Emily giggled out loud, feeling their legs tickle her skin as they loved around her, singing happily. They were even kind enough to fix her shoes! Emily looked at the dress, beaming as she did a twirl. Goodness, it was even more gorgeous than her mother’s! She looked at the female skeletons, who got excited.

“A wedding, we’re going to have a wedding.” They sung.

“A wedding cake is no mistake, it must be quite sublime.” Mrs. Plum sung out as they stirred the cauldron. “It’s missing something.” The other chef said. The three worked over what could be the right ingredient, but when the second chef’s nose fell in, they knew they had what they needed. “A wedding, we’re going to have a wedding.”

“Huzzah, huzzah. We’re going to have a wedding. Let’s all give out a cheer ‘cause the groom is getting married today. One thing you can surely say is we will stand beside, until the end we will defend out one and only groom.” The skeletons stood in a boat, mimicking a rowing position. Victor ended up stuck with them, but couldn’t help but smile in amusement at this. This was probably a better wedding party then his previous on...not that he remembered or anything.

“Our groom-to-be, our groom-to-be, the lovely Corpse Groom.” Victor cringed lightly, it still didn’t sound all too flattering. The two soldier skeletons walked up to Victor, locking elbows with him. “Huzzah! Hooray! Huzzah! Hooray! Our groom is getting married today.”.

“Oh, there she is.” A skeleton said. “Here she comes.” The short general skeleton said. Victor looked up, seeing Emily coming down the stairs. Her dark blue -nearly gray- dress was replaced by a beautiful white dress.

The dress was as beautiful as her. It was long, a small train following after her. There were no straps, and there was a small pattern of flowers that traced along the edges. Her heels had been repaired, making soft clicks as she walked. A bouquet that wasn’t too dead was in her gloved hands. Goodness, where had they found these? Her brown hair was neat with a flower crown and veil resting on her head.

“Oh, oh, the bride is here. Here comes the bride, here comes the bride.” They all sung, watching Emily walk up to Victor. Before they could get too close, Emily was moved away by the female skeletons. She flashed Victor a quick smile as they were moved forward.

All final touches were being made, Mrs. Plum adding the two figurines on top of the cake. With that done, the cake was picked up by several skeletons. “We’re going to have a party like nobody’s ever seen. The living in the land above will not know where they’ve been. The land above. The party of a bride and groom. Here comes the bride. On this glorious day of days. Up to the land of the living to celebrate.”

Maggot was moving as fast as she could, so Spider came down, picking her up.

The wedding for Victoria and Barkis had already commenced...and it was now time for the wedding party. Hildegarde came over, putting a cake down in front of the couple. Most of the people there looked rather bored, one man had even fallen asleep at the table!

“Quiet down now, everyone.” Barkis announced, standing up. There was no way he would let the earlier events sway him. It’s not like they could prove anything anyways. 

Now that all focus was on him, he continued, “Thank you. Elegant, cultured, radiant. Victoria has found a husband with all these qualities and more.”. Victoria kept quiet, even though her mind wandered. He was twice the man Barkis had ever been… she just wish she knew what really happened, he’d never just run off. Taking the family money and making them go out of business from it… it wasn’t like him.

“Serendipity brought us together and no force on earth could tear us apart.” Just as he said that, the fire behind them shifted into a malevolent green, startling them both. Everyone was looking around now, clearly unnerved by the shift. Unknown to Mr. and Mrs. Everglot, Bonejangles and two other skeletons crept up behind them. Bonejangles leaned over Mr. Everglot and his eye simply rolled out, bouncing off the man’s head and into the soup. It took a moment to process, the man looking down, scooping up the eyeball with his spoon.

“There’s an eye in me soup.”

Everyone began panicking, knocking over the table and screaming. The dead filled the house, everyone was trying to run away from them. Barkis panicked, shoving Victoria in front of him as a way to turn their focus on her before ducking underneath the table. She watched as the man hurried underneath the table.

Mrs. Everglot stood on a chair, screaming as Scraps barked up at her. “Fetch me musket!” Mr. Everglot shouted. “Fetch your own musket. I’m off!” The butler put his hat on before running out the door. Underneath the table Barkis hid, yelling as he heard giggling beside him, seeing the two skeleton children. The entire room was in disarray, even Mr. and Mrs. Everglot ran off in a fright.

Eventually everyone else had made it outside, the village was in a frenzy. “In other new, the dead walk the earth!” The news man screamed, aggressively shaking his bell. Skeletons ran out of buildings, following after people. And soon enough, a bunch of the villagers were cornered, using whatever weapons they had to defend themselves.

“Get back! Don’t try and sneak up on me!” The old lady screamed, swinging around her walker rather insanely, “Get back! I’ll give you such a wallop”. The skeletons just stood at a safe distance, watching.

A mother, her son, their dog, and two older men had been cornered near one of the buildings. The young hid behind his mother’s skirt, when he recognized one of the dead. He let go of her skirt, walking forward. “No.” The woman whimpered, watching him walk forward. The young boy approached the zombie in the front much to everyone else’s horror. The zombie growled, leaning down, and picked him up. Everyone gasped, watching in fear as the zombie now had the boy.

“Grandpa?” The boy asked. Everyone gasped as the zombie hugged the boy, so happy to see his young grandson again. With this reaction, things had calmed down.

“Bounder!” The old lady screamed, hitting the skeleton. “Sweetie pie.” The mustache skeleton said. “Monster.” “Buttercup.” “Cad!” “Gertrude!” He shouted, making her stop. “Alfred? Oh, you’ve been dead for 15 years.” She said, adjusting her glasses. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

Old friends, family, and loved ones were reuniting. Even Scraps had found a new friend! This wedding already bringing so many people together, and it would bring even more at the actual wedding.

Victoria stood in the destruction of her home, still shocked over everything that had occurred. Barkis climbed out from underneath the table, panting heavily upon seeing the room empty. “Well, that’s it. We’re going to take whatever money we can and get out of here.” Barkis stated.

“Money? What money?” Victoria asked.

“Your dowry. It’s my right!”

“But my parents don’t have any money. It’s my marriage to you that will save them from the poor house.” Victoria explained, enraging Barkis even more.

“Th-the poor house?! You’re lying. This isn’t true. Tell me you’re lying!” Barkis shouted, grabbing her by the arms.

Victoria glared at the man, “Did things not go according to your plan, Lord Barkis?”. She shoved him away from her, “Well, perhaps in disappointment we are perfectly matched.”. Without another word, she stormed off. No longer could she bare his presence.

She made her way outside her home, and Victoria gasped. Both the villagers and dead were walking alongside each other without a problem. She leaned over, realizing that they were crossing the bridge over to the church.

“Be gone, ye demons from hell! Back to the void from whence you came! You shall not enter here. Back, back!” The pastor shouted. “Keep it down, we’re in a church.” A zombie said, as everyone walked right past him. The pastor stood in shock, everyone making their way inside the church while Bonejangles slapped the pastor’s staff out of his hand.

Everyone had been seated, the music playing now. Victor stood in the front with Elder Gutknecht, a vial of...poison on the table. Immense guilt filled Victor, as he hadn’t told Emily that the only way they could truly be together was if she was dead too.

There was no chance to stop it, as he turned to see Emily already heading down the aisle. Both of the skeleton children walked in front of her, dropping down petals in front of her. Emily looked up to Victor, smiling at him. He returned it, but it wavered slightly hearing Elder Gutknecht open the bottle behind him. He had the bottle facing towards him, preventing Emily from seeing the skull picture on the bottle.

Victor swallowed it down, holding out his hand as Emily made it over. She took it, and once she stood beside him the music stopped.

It was really happening.

“Dearly beloved and departed, we are gathered here today to join this woman and this corpse in marriage.” While Elder Gutknecht prepared them, the two hadn’t noticed Victoria arriving to the church. The woman’s heart broke, recognizing that figure from anywhere.

“Victor?” She whispered, getting a shush from a skeleton in response. She quieted down, watching hesitantly. It couldn’t really be him...could it?

“Living first.” The elder said. Emily turned to Victor, making Victoria even more shocked. Emily had been gone for a whole day and now here she was, ready to marry Victor. So many questions ran through Victoria’s mind as she watched, heartbroken.

Emily took a breath, holding up her hand. “With this hand, I will lift your sorrows.” She picked up the goblet, “Your cup will never empty, for I will be your wine.”. Elder Gutknecht nodded, turning towards Victor.

However, unlike Emily, Victor was starting to struggling. “With this hand… I will lift your sorrows. Your cup will never empty.” He picked up the vial, trying to ignore the shake in his hand, “For I will be… I will be…”. Emily frowned, urging him on.

“Go on, my boy.” Elder Gutknecht said. “Your cup...will never empty, for I will be…”

Emily frowned, “For I will be your wine.”. Closing her eyes, Emily went to drink it, making Victor’s eyes widen. Just before it touched her lips, he stopped her, tears threatening to run down his face. Emily looked at him confused, frowning. Victoria watched, what on earth was happening? “He’s having second thoughts.” Alfred whispered to his wife.

Victor took a shaky breath, shaking his head. “I can’t… I can’t let you do it. The only way for us to have been together was if you drank the wine, and I couldn’t bare with myself if I let you drink it… All of this, all of it. This is wrong.” He took her hand and used his other hand to cup her cheek, “I was a groom. My dreams were taken from me. And I can’t bare it if I steal them from anyone else… I love you, Emily...but I’m not yours… and your not mine.”. He stepped away from her, and the two heard a gasp, turning around to see Victoria.

“Victoria?” Emily gasped, seeing her best friend. Victoria looked between the two, before walking up Victor with wide eyes. Victor was confused when suddenly Victoria took the wilted flower out of his breast pocket. “Victor...it is you.” She whispered, looking at him. 

The man she loved that had been missing for months was right here...but he...he was dead.

Victor watched her hold the flower, and gasped, looking at her. “Victoria…” He whispered. “Wait… was Victor the groom you once had?” Emily gaped, finally putting two and two together. With some hesitance, Victor grabbed her hand, making Victoria out up a small smile.

“Oh, how touching.” They all gasped, turning around to see Barkis, “I always cry at weddings.”. “Barkis?” Emily asked, now even more confused. “Our best friends reunited at last. Surely now they can both live their happily ever after. But you forget...she’s still my wife!” Barkis grabbed Victoria from Victor, pulling her back, “I’ll not leave here empty handed!”.

Panicked murmurs filled the group, but the one with the biggest shock was Victor. “You.” He whispered, his eyes wide. Barkis turned to him shocked, realizing it was the corpse from earlier. “Victor?” Barkis asked. Now Emily was even more confused! How on earth did Barkis know Victor?

“You!” Victor’s tone had risen, glaring at the man in front of him. “But-but-you left.” Barkis stammered. Victor gasped, all of it coming back to him, “No, you killed me.”. Startled gasp filled the whole room, Alfred’s jaw had even fallen off. “This man is obviously delusional!” Barkis exclaimed, Victor glaring at him.

“That night in the woods, after I messed up my vows! You followed me, I remember it now! Saying things such as I could never be a good husband and that you’d make sure Victoria got a better husband, then you hit me in the head with a rock and leave me for dead!” Victor shouted. The dead growled in anger, ready to attack the man.

Barkis backed away, still holding onto Victoria he ripped the sword from the short skeleton’s ribs, waving it around. Emily let out a concerned gasp as Barkis held the blade to Victoria’s neck. “Sorry to cut things short, but we must be on our way.” Barkis stated.

“Take your hands off her.” Victor hissed out, oddly enough Emily was really starting to like it when he got angry, though it was a bit scary, “You stole her from me once, you won’t do it again.”.

A scoff left Barkis as the corpse approached him, “Do I have to kill you again?”. Barkis pointed the sword at Victor before screaming as Scraps bit into his leg. Victoria took advantage, running into Victor’s arms.

“Catch!” Mrs. Plum ripped something out of her husband’s back, throwing it. Victor didn’t have time to react, but someone else caught it. Everyone looked shocked as Emily clutched the..the barbecue fork!? “Sorry dear!” Mrs. Plum shouted. Emily tsked, taking her flower crown and veil off, before turning to her former fiance, getting in a fencing position.

“You won’t touch another hair on either of their heads.” Emily stated. Barkis growled, not hesitating at all to charge at her. He swung at her sloppily, and Emily twirled away from his attack. “Emily!” Victoria shouted, staying beside Victor. 

She leapt back to avoid a stab, managing to lean in and jab him in the side, tearing the fabric of his jacket. Barkis looked down at the cut, hissing in anger as he swung his sword down. Emily yelled, using the kitchen fork to block it. He pushed with all his might, and Emily quickly kicked him with her heel, making him stumble back.

Taking advantage of the moment, Emily got underneath a pew, screaming as she was nearly stabbed through it. Barkis stood on the pew, stabbing down through it to try and hit her. Emily reacted quickly, stabbing the barbecue fork through, getting him in the foot. A yell of surprise left Barkis, the man stumbling back. His tumble caused the pews to topple and Victor quickly pulled Victoria back so she wouldn’t be hurt.

Pushing her hair out of her face, Emily stood up, looking around for any signs of Barkis. The man yelled, appearing behind her. He knocked her weapon out of her hand and kicked her to the ground. Emily gasped as she landed, tensing as Barkis put his sword to her chest. He glared down at her, pulling back his arms. Emily closed her eyes in terror, Victoria gasped in horror, and Victor hurried forward.

Barkis stabbed forward, but it didn’t hit Emily. She slowly opened her eyes, gasping at what she saw. Everyone was shocked as well.

Victor stood in front of Emily, glaring at Barkis as he took the sword out from his stomach, pointing it at the man. Barkis took a moment to compose himself, “Touche, my friend.”.

“Get out.” Victor hissed out, keeping the sword on him.

Barkis circled around him, making the two girls step away out of fear. As Barkis circled around him, Victor made sure to keep his sword on Barkis. The man approached the table, picking up the goblet. “But first a toast. To Victor. Always a groomsmen, never the groom.” Victor’s anger faltered a bit, the words hurting a lot more than he wanted them too, “Tell me a boy, can a heart still break once it’s stopped beating?”. Victor was silent which made Barkis chuckle before he drank from the goblet.

Everyone wanted to go at Barkis, but were prevented as Elder Gutknecht held out his arms. “Wait! We must abide by their rules. We are amongst the living.” He explained. Barkis finished off the drink, letting out a refreshed sigh as he threw the goblet.

Barkis made his way down the stairs, approaching the door, when he let out a loud gasp, leaning against the door for support. “Not anymore~” Maggot grinned. Barkis turned around, gasping loudly, revealing his now blue skin and yellow eyes. The man gasped, realizing his heart had stopped. But that wasn’t even the worst part.

“Yep, you’re right. He’s all yours.” The elder put down his arms, letting the dead move forward, eager to get revenge for Victor and the two girls Barkis screamed, trying uselessly to open the door as the dead cornered him. They took him out through the door, Mrs. Plum closing the door behind them. “New arrival.” She said sinisterly, closing the door.

Victoria had covered her eyes, not wanting to witness any of it. Once the door had close, Victor gently moved her hands, smiling at her. Victoria frowned looking at him, “Oh, Victor, I never thought I’d see you again...I should have looked for you, or done something, anything.”.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself. It was no one’s fault but Barkis.” Victor explained. Victoria sighed, leaning against him.

Emily had a small smile at the two, but it fell when Victor let go of Victoria. “Victor…?” Emily asked, “Where are you going? I made a promise.”.

He stopped, turning to face her, a smile prominent on his face. “And you’ve kept your promise, Emily. You helped me know who I was...you set me free.” Victor looked down, taking the ring off his finger and put it in her hand, wrapping her fingers around it. “Now I can do the same for both of you. Go, marry whomever you want.” Victor said, looking at both of them.

The girls frowned, but knew deep down that this was meant to happen. All that mattered was that he was now free. He could finally rest knowing his life and that they were both going to be safe.

Victor walked to the door, looking back at them with a smile. The two looked back at him, a small smile on their face. Emily wrapped her arm around Victoria, holding her friend close. Victor gave one last smile, before walking up to the entrance of the church. A sigh of relief left him, and those that remained in the church watched in awe as his body turned into a bunch of blue butterflies, flying up into the sky.

Emily and Victoria rushed to the entrance, watching the butterflies fly up to the sky, heading towards the moon. Both girls looked at each other content, holding hands as they watched the rest fly up. Victor was free and so were they. Free to find their own love and live their own happily ever after.

  
_ They were free _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote all of this in 24 hours instead of working on college stuff. Now GOOD NIGHT LOVELIES AND HAPPY SPOOKTOBER
> 
> Oh, quick edit. For anyone confused, here's the basic backstory. The wedding vows between Victor and Victoria go the same as the movie. But when he runs off into the woods, Barkis kills him, stating he's pathetic and not fit to marry Victoria. The hit to the head didn't kill him, in fact he was still alive, but the injury messed with his memory and brain. Barkis ditches him in the woods by the oak tree, where he stabs Victor in the torso to finish him off. Months pass, and his body is buried under snow and dirt, only his hand out. Emily knew Victoria was arranged to be married, but didn't know who it was, hence why she didn't recognize Victor. Victor had no memory of most of his past, except being a groom and the vows, which is why he rises when Emily proposes. Also, when Barkis killed him, he looted the Van Dort home while they're out searching for Victor, making them go bankrupt. With their money, he stays off Victoria for a few months.
> 
> The Everglot's become desperate, contacting the Pettler's for a deal. Emily marries Barkis, who they think is family, and they'll give them status for the Pettler's giving them money. Yeah, legit sold her for status. If there are anymore questions, feel free to ask me. i was trying to keep the secret up as long as I could, but I feel it could've gotten confusing.


End file.
